We caught up for a chat with Dr Claire Jenkins from Vetchat.com.au to talk about all things dog poo related.
[PetCloud Team]: Hi Dr Claire thanks for the chat today. So tell us, why do Vets always ask us about our dog’s poo?!
[Dr Claire]: As a Veterinarian, a large part of my day is spent talking about and examining your dog’s poop. We love it. In fact you’ll be lucky if a minute has passed before we want to know all about it.
[PetCloud Team]: But seriously, why such a big focus?
[Dr Claire]: Why do we love their poop so much? Well, it’s because it tells us so much. If the eyes are a window to the soul then the poop is a window to internal health and happiness! The amount that’s passed, its consistency and its colour can actually tell us a lot about their general health and is a great indicator of underlying problems affecting the gut.
1. Colour:
Whilst a dog who makes the bad decision to eat paints or crayons will certainly change the colour of their stool, a problem within the gut can also do it.
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Normal: A light to medium brown colour really is the gold star of poop colour!
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Black: Or very dark poop can be very serious and a sign of digested blood such as from a gut ulcer.
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Red: Fresh blood can streak over the poop to make it look red. That could indicate a parasite burden, a colitis, haemorrhagic gastroenteritis or even a clotting disorder. Also potentially very serious.
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Green: Often means the poop is passing way, way too quickly through the gut because it’s not happy and isn’t working properly.
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Yellow: Similar to green, also common with poop moving through too quick thanks to an unhappy gut.
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White: As per green and yellow, also seen with insufficiency of the pancreas.
2. Frequency:
This depends on so many things but whilst going a couple of times daily is completely normal, going 6 or more times or at the other end of the spectrum, not passing it at all are definitely not.
3. Consistency:
In general, poop should be easy to pick up and firm but not hard. Pooping rocks or liquid are both conditions that your mate needs to be relieved of.
Of course what goes in must come out, so the poop is very influenced by what is eaten. Through keeping your pet’s diet consistent, and of good quality, as well as avoiding the offering of human scraps you will know what’s a normal and acceptable bowel motion for your best mate.
By knowing what’s normal and what’s not, and having issues dealt with as soon as they arise, rather than further down the track, you will also see the benefits of paying close attention to your dog’s poop, and I think you’ll learn to love it too!
[PetCloud Team]: Well thanks very much for Dr Claire. In the mean time, if any of our readers wanted to figure out which poo type they prefer – here’s a helpful dog poo chart below.
Our favourite is definitely Grade 2 “Kickable” ????
Image credit: bbs.goumin.com
If you also need to sing to encourage your dog to go, we suggest Poo Song on YouTube which is an adaptation of the theme song for the movie Frozen
If you need to book an online Video Chat Vet Appointment with Dr Claire, head to her website www.vetchat.com.au
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